Post reporter

A rugby player, who drove in excess of 100mph through the borough and made officers fear for their lives, has been jailed.

Former St Helens, Castleford, Widnes, Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield and North Queenland Cowboys player Scott Moore, 30, of Ranworth Drive, Lowton, has been jailed at Bolton Crown Court after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and three counts of assault.

Scott Moore

On Friday, October 14, 2016, two officers from GMP’s Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit were on patrol in an unmarked vehicle, driving along Chaddock Lane towards Boothstown, around 3.55am.

They saw a black Mercedes travelling towards them at speed, heading onto the A580 East Lancashire Road, in the direction of Liverpool.

Due to the manner of driving, they thought it could be stolen so instructed it to pull over but instead of coming to a halt, the Mercedes accelerated and sped off in the direction of Leigh, sparking a pursuit.

The dashcam footage from the police vehicle captures the Mercedes overtaking a lorry at around 100mph on a stretch of roadworks - which had a speed limit of 30mph - before continuing to accelerate along the A580 at speeds of more than 150mph.

The speed was consistent into a housing estate in Leigh and, due to the excessive speed of travel, the Mercedes collided with a wall of a house, causing extensive damage to both the wall and vehicle.

The pursuit continued until it reached a dead end on Arrow Street. Immediately, the driver’s door opened revealing Moore as the driver and as one of the officers got out of the patrol car to detain him, he was elbowed by Moore enabling him to escape and go into a garden.

When officers caught up with him, he violently resisted arrest in a struggle lasting 50 minutes in which Moore grunted and growled at officers and, despite being Tasered six times, kept rising to his feet to fight and charging at officers.

At one point, an officer had him in a headlock and delivered a stun directly to his body but Moore was still able to fight them off and even grabbed the wires from the Taser, which had been deployed, and removed them from his body.

As the Taser was cycling for the sixth time, an officer leant over him with handcuffs but he grabbed the Taser and a tug of war ensued before he managed to gain control shouting ‘You’re getting it now!’ while pointing it at the officer’s face.

The terrified officer fought with Moore to release it from his hand and the other officer struck him numerous times. He eventually dropped the Taser and following a further struggle, he was detained.

Today (Tuesday) he has been jailed for one year and 11 months. He has also been disqualified from driving for two years.

Detective Constable Lynsey Watson-Perry of GMP’s Wigan Borough, said: “In all their careers, the officers at the scene had never been so scared nor witnessed such a violent individual that had so much strength to fight.

“Moore knew exactly what he was doing, using his size and experience on the rugby field to evade officers in a desperate struggle that threatened both the safety of officers and innocent members of the public.

“Whatever level of force he is used to displaying on the pitch, this was not a game – people’s lives were in danger and an officer had to undergo surgery.

“I am satisfied that now Moore has been taken away from the society he posed a threat to, he is facing the consequences of his crimes.”